Its not like I know EVERY single dish in this world but when it comes to desserts I would say I have tried 99% of all the desserts that exist in this world and then I read about “Possets”- what the heck is a posset and why have I never heard of it?

After some reading I find out it that Possets date back to the medieval ages and Lady Macbeth used poisoned possets to knock out the guards outside Duncan’ts quarters (of course I read that in Wikipedia, its not like I read William Shakespeare Macbeth ;-))  and originated in England  – Posset: a drink made of hot milk curdled with ale, wine, or other alcoholic liquor and typically flavored with spices, drunk as a delicacy or as a remedy for colds (from: Oxford Dictionary) –  sounds to me like the former version of eggnog, so why not make a dessert instead of a drink out of it?

This dessert version is nothing like a curdled hot drink, it still uses “similar” ingredients that can be found in the original drink like cream, sugar and fruit juice but I would say it tastes much better, like a fancy pudding but with more depth – of course with all that cream one should expect some depth (and calories, but they are worth it) and November/December are the only months where you can gracefully gain some pounds.

So look into your fridge and start cooking up this ultra yummy, fancy and easy dessert. The options for fruit juices are end less and so are the toppings. And who says you couldn’t infuse your possets with some herbs and spike them with some alcohol…just to give you some more options on what you could do with this base recipe. Lavender, Thyme or Rosemary come to mind combined with a little bit of limoncello or pear brandy? I had a grapefruit at hand that needed to be used up and some Pomegranate seeds in the fridge – voila Pomegranate Grapefruits possets!

Pomegranate Grapefruit Possets: adapted from La Peche Fraiche

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup grapefruit juice (juice from 1/2 a grapefruit)
• drop of red food coloring, if desired

To assemble:

• chopped salted pistachios
• Pomegranate seeds
• Grapefruit wedges
• Whipped cream

Directions:

1. Place the cream, sugar, and a drop of red food coloring (optional) into a small saucepot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to prevent a skin from forming.Boil for 2 minutes and adjust the temperature so that the cream doesn’t boil over.
2. Remove from heat and stir in grapefruit juice; set aside for 5 minutes. Ready 4 small (3/4 cup capacity) bowls or ramekins by placing on a baking sheet or in a baking pan that fits in your fridge.
3. After 5 minutes, pour the posset mixture into the ramekins and set in the fridge to set, at least 8 hours.
4. To finish the possets, garnish each with a few chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds and top with softly whipped cream.

Guten Appetit!